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Tee Higgins was tagged … again? Six questions on Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase and the Bengals

  • Ben BabyMar 3, 2025, 03:13 PM ET

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      Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports.
      He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs.
      A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin sat in a mostly empty ballroom at the Westin in downtown Indianapolis recently and had a familiar conversation.

Yet again, the Bengals’ de facto GM was discussing wide receiver Tee Higgins’ long-term future with the team. For the past three offseasons, Cincinnati has had to make a big decision on one of its top offensive players. The decision made Monday is a familiar one for both sides of the negotiation.

The Bengals placed the franchise tag on Higgins for the second straight year. It marks the latest development in a yearslong saga regarding Higgins and a potential long-term extension. Last year, the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on an extension for the fifth-year receiver out of Clemson.

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This year, the Bengals tagged Higgins again either as a short-term solution or as a placeholder for a more final resolution this offseason.

Higgins had a career-high 10 touchdown catches last season, and the Bengals were 8-4 in the 12 games he played in in 2024, compared with 1-4 in the five he missed. Since entering the league in 2020, Higgins has 34 receiving touchdowns, tied for the 14th most in the NFL. He’s one of nine players with at least five receiving TDs in each of the past five seasons.

Taking a closer look, Bengals reporter Ben Baby answers five big questions about the move, including how it might affect the prospective deals for receiver

In recent years, getting the franchise tag in consecutive seasons has usually led to a long-term deal. Six of the last seven players who were franchised in consecutive seasons signed a long-term deal afterward. Will Tee Higgins be next? Shelley Lipton/Icon Sportswire

How did the Bengals and Higgins get to this point?

This is the third year the Bengals and Higgins have battled over a long-term extension. After Higgins was tagged last year, he requested a trade in the hopes of landing a new deal. He ended up signing the tag, playing 12 games and, perhaps most notably, switched agents ahead of this year’s big negotiation, from David Mulugheta to Rocky Arceneaux and Caitlin Aoki of Alliance Sports Management. Arceneaux also represents Higgins’ teammate, Ja’Marr Chase, who also is pursuing an extension.

Higgins has been a very productive receiver when healthy. But with the window closing quickly, the Bengals opted to place the tag on Higgins, which leaves the team with a few options. — Baby

What will Higgins’ state of mind be after failing to receive an extension, and what recourse does he have in the situation?

To be clear, the two sides can still reach an agreement on an extension. That deadline isn’t until July 15. However, the fact the Bengals tagged Higgins isn’t a great sign.

When Higgins got the tag last year, it was a sign to him that a new deal wasn’t coming. Higgins wanted to avoid the noise and the drama last year, which is why he accepted the tag well before training camp.

Higgins announced the latest tag himself with a four-character post Monday: “tag.” Even if the team said it wants to work toward a long-term deal, whether being tagged again increases his frustration about his situation in Cincinnati is worth monitoring in the coming weeks. — Baby

What are you hearing around the league?

The Bengals would like to sign Higgins to a long-term deal, so the franchise tag is a good placeholder for them — not to mention the value of the tag, $26.1 million, is lower than his actual market value.

People around the league are skeptical as to whether Cincinnati can pay Chase, Higgins and Hendrickson, but they are going to try. Expect rival teams to try to entice Cincinnati with a potential trade package leading up to the draft, especially if a receiver-needy team such as the Patriots doesn’t get what they need in free agency. Cincinnati has a penchant for keeping good players instead of dealing them, however. — Fowler

What does this mean for Higgins’ future in Cincinnati?

The Bengals have always been very high on Higgins. Even amid all of the contract drama this year, Tobin expressed how his fondness for the 2020 second-round draft pick has evolved since the moment he was a Bengal.

“My opinion of Tee has not changed,” Tobin said. “He walked in the building, I’m like, ‘Yep, that’s what I thought he was. That’s what he is.'”

But if the Bengals can’t reach a long-term deal with Higgins, and the receiver doesn’t want to play on the franchise tag, then Cincinnati should strongly consider trading him for draft capital with the hopes of finding a potential replacement. — Baby

How big of a distraction might this become for Higgins and the team?

This could be a sizable distraction. Keep in mind that when Higgins signed his 2024 franchise tag before the start of training camp, he said part of the motivation was to avoid being in the headlines.

He has been beloved by teammates and virtually everyone inside the building over the last five years. That includes quarterback Joe Burrow, who has been very vocal about keeping Higgins in Cincinnati.

If the two sides can’t agree on a multi-year extension, managing the fallout with the franchise quarterback will be the biggest obstacle for Cincinnati’s front office to face. — Baby

What does this mean for Chase and Hendrickson deals?

For starters, this could give Chase greater leverage in his contract negotiation as he seeks to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history, which is something Tobin said he hopes to accomplish.

With Higgins’ future uncertain, there is greater urgency to secure at least one long-term target for Burrow over the next few seasons. However, if the Bengals keep Higgins on the tag for the 2025 season, it will create less cap space for the team to sign Chase and Hendrickson, because Higgins’ tag amount will count entirely on the upcoming cap.

Still, Cincinnati should have ample space to get something done with their two All-Pro players, especially with the cap rising to $279.2 million in 2025. — Baby